Racism Apparent
by InkstainedHands1177
Summary: Percy finds out more about Mer culture. He isn't pleased. (This is the 4th Princelet. Please read my previous works before reading this.) ((Rick Riordan owns all Percy Jackson characters.))
1. Chapter 1

**Part I**

 **Two weeks after** _ **Creatures of Shadow**_

 **POV – Percy**

I sighed and leaned against the pillar and watched. My new crown was settled on my head, and my armbands were shining bronze.

Triton glowered at me. I smirked. I was the Crown Prince, heir of the Eastern Seas, but I didn't have a thrown yet. I only was in charge of a small standing army.

Basically, my duties hadn't been given to me yet. I was just an advisor to Dad, a General, and a Prince. Nothing more than that.

It was Triton who had to deal with the daily meetings, the councils, the parties, the complaints, and the paperwork. Teehee!

I blew him a kiss and swam away from his misery. It wasn't all that hard to know that he was glaring at me. I chuckled and swam through the back ways of the palace to the kitchens, snagging some sea grapes.

Life at the palace wasn't all that horrible. It was definitely better than camp in some ways. No punishments, maids cleaned up my room for me all the time, and I didn't have to deal with all the hero worship of the younger demigods.

Annabeth had gone back up to camp last night, four days after our engagement. She had been called back for the reconstruction plans on one of the temples to Poseidon.

I shook my head slowly. "I can't believe it."

"Can't believe what?" Mako and Tolo and Fresca swam over to me from where they were always hanging out waiting for Triton to be done holding court.

I smirked. "Yo!"

Mako chuckled. "Hello to you too. Now, what can't you believe?"

Tolo snickered. "How stuffy Triton is? I can agree."

Smirking, I shook my head. "No. Annabeth, my fiancé, is in charge of the construction projects above the surface. She's building temples for the gods and minor gods and stuff. She said that there was even some deliberation about building a temple for me." I snorted. "Can you believe that?!"

Tolo nodded. "You're a Universal now. It only makes sense that you would have a temple."

I stared at the merboy. "The fuck?"

"Language!" Fresca whacked my head. I whined at her.

"Come on! Mother is enough!"

She smirked triumphantly. "I'm her lead hand maiden. I channel her spirit."

I huffed. "That's it. I'm not taking you on any more adventures. You'll rat us out."

She glared at me indignantly. "I will not!"

Triton swam up. "Won't what?"

I rolled my eyes. "Fresca is Mother's new spy."

"Shut up!"

Triton snickered. "That so? Well, looks like we'll have to leave you behind now. Don't want Mother knowing everything we get up to, hmm?" He winked at her. I spied Mako shifting slightly in discomfort and smirked.

"Maybe Mako can keep her company?" Triton grinned in almost eerie likeness with my smile. We looked like twins.

Tolo groaned. "No…now there are two of you!"

I blinked. "I've not changed at all."

Triton nodded. "Neither have I."

Mako shrugged at that one. "Actually, Triton, thanks to Percy, you did get that huge piece of coral out of your ass."

My older brother gave Mako the evil eye. I snickered and then looked over to where the forges were. "Hey, um…I'll see you guys later, okay?" They frowned but nodded and then went back to talking. I swam over to where Tyson was. I hadn't seen him at my coronation, my engagement, or my party.

In fact, I hadn't seen the big guy in a long time, now that I thought of it. The thought roiled in my stomach and make me ill. He was my baby brother. I had to make sure he was looked after!

I entered the forges quietly, but my appearance was still noted. The head Cyclopes straightened and barked out orders. The din ceased and everyone straightened and bowed to me. I smiled and nodded, used to this treatment by now.

"Is my brother Tyson here?"

"Here I am Percy!" Tyson came from behind the huge forge. I hadn't entered the actual smithy area because the water was far, far too hot for me.

He shrunk and moved to where I was hovering. I smiled and hugged him, cautious about the metal armor on his person, just in case. "Tyson! I wanted to see you. It's been too long since we talked last." I turned to Grithon, the Master of the Forges.

"You don't mind if I take my brother for a break, do you?"

The Cyclops hesitated. I frowned. My frown must have tipped him off that I wasn't going to accept any other answer but a yes. He nodded quickly. "Of course you can take your brother. Anything you wish, your majesty."

I smiled. "You are a great service to my father's kingdom. Thank you, Grithon." I took Tyson's arm and led him out. Tyson kept touching my tail and playing with the scales. I let him. He loved my tail, and I loved his laugh.

"So, what's new?" I grinned at him as we swam down the main street of Atlantis. I had removed my crown and armbands, my Royal Marks, from sight. They were still there, just invisible.

Tyson shrugged. "Daddy is nice to me. He brings me in all the time for military meetings. Asks me questions about my men and the forges. We hang out at least once a week." He grinned.

I smiled back, but my smile was tense. My own _father_ was doing a better job being family to Tyson than I was. That was just sad. I cleared my throat. "I didn't see you at any of my personal events."

Tyson pouted and fiddled with his oil pouch that he always had with him. "Not invited. Daddy said that I wasn't accepted as family. He says he's trying to change that."

I frowned and stopped swimming. "What? What do you mean you weren't invited?!"

Tyson tried to shush me. His eye widened and looked around nervously. "Cyclopes aren't wanted around the main city. We should go back to Daddy's palace."

I scowled. " _I_ want you around the city, and that's how it's going to be!" I took his huge hand and pulled him to my favorite candy shop. The owner smiled at me, but I could tell that his smile was strained when he noticed Tyson's hulking shape near me.

"My Prince! What can I give you today?"

"Sell to me, Terith, not give. We've been over this." I smiled at him. "I want two packs of the sour seaweed strings, two bags of the gummies, the ones with the trident shapes, yeah." I grinned. "And all the blue candy you have."

He laughed, his tension easing away. "At once, your highness." I grinned at Tyson. My grin faded when I noticed a particularly nasty looking merman glaring at us.

When he noticed that he had caught my attention, he swam forward. "What are you doing hanging around the likes of this thing?"

I frowned. "What?"

He scowled. "I'm not repeating myself twice."

The shop owner gaped. He had come back from the rear of the shop after gathering my order. I could see him shaking his head violently from the corner of my eye. I smiled and raised a hand slowly in the owner's direction. "That's alright, Terith. I've got this."

My smile turned grimmer as I moved closer to the merman. "Why did you call Tyson a thing?"

He gave a scoffing laugh. "Because he ain't natural!"

"He's the son of Lord Poseidon."

The mer stopped laughing and then snorted. "Fine, he's royally not natural." Two other mermen snorted in laughter from behind. I smirked.

"Tyson's also the brother of Prince Percy, the newly crowned prince." I inspected my fingernails. "I've heard tell that Prince Percy loves his younger brother very dearly."

Tyson smiled, no beamed at that. I smiled up at the big guy and patted his arm. "I love Tyson too. Just because he's a Cyclops doesn't mean he isn't natural. He's naturally a Cyclops and that perfectly fine to me." I stared at the merman. "Just because he's different doesn't mean he's wrong."

The Mer bristled and moved closer to me. I didn't want the water to become bloody, so I simply allowed my Royal Marks to show. I grinned at how the merman's face became slack with shock.

Chuckling, I turned, paid Terith for the candy and moved towards the door. I knew that the merman wasn't going to attack me. He didn't have a death wish. He was just a talker. Likes the sound of his voice too much.

Or so I thought.

Tyson gave a roar of anger. I turned just in time to see him _crushing_ the wrist of the merman. The merman gave a scream of agony and dropped the long dagger that _had_ _been poised to stab me in the back_.

"You will not kill or hurt my big brother!" Tyson was growing larger. I suddenly became concerned for the structural safety of the shop.

"Tyson!" He stopped and looked at me. I smirked. "Take it outside. There's not enough room in here."

He smiled at me and dragged all three mermen outside.


	2. Chapter 2

**Part II**

Swimming into the throne room, Poseidon gave me an exasperated look. "Did you have to beat them up? A simple lecture would have sufficed!" He looked at the three chained and quaking mermen.

Tyson stubbornly refused to back down. "The leader wanted to hurt Percy with a sharp stick!"

Poseidon froze and then stared down at the merman who was cowering in front of me, with my sword at his throat. I grinned sharply. "Tyson crushed his sword arm."

Triton was purple with rage. "YOU ATTEMPTED TO ASSASSINATE THE PRINCE?!"

Triton moved too quickly for anyone to stop him. The merman was alive and cowering one second and the next he was impaled on Triton's sword.

I stared. That was the first kill of a mortal being that I had witnessed.

" _Killing a mortal is easy, Percy."_ Night's voice slithered into my brain. _"Killing a mortal is always easy. It's the consequences of the kill that is hard."_

I blinked rapidly and let go of the merman, oblivious to the chaos around me. I stared at the blood that was spreading through the water like some type of gruesome flower unfurling after a long night.

I heard Ouranos' tentative voice in my head. _"I cannot help to give you some advice."_

" _I don't want your bloody advice."_ I thought back.

" _You can continue to hold this grudge against me, or you can move on. Why waste time railing against the Past, when you can take hold of the Future?"_ He sounded a bit testy.

I sighed and suddenly felt so incredibly weary. Tyson looked at me with concern. His big brown eye became downcast. "Killing is sometimes necessary, Big Brother."

"Are you saying that _this_ was necessary?"

He shook his head. "Big, Big Brother acted wrongly." He looked at me and moved closer to me, pulling me away from the blood filled water. We were standing near the window for some fresh water. I sighed and shook my head.

"That was the first time…"

"I know. It was hard killing my first monster too, but it was necessary."

I looked up at him and suddenly realized that Tyson was an actual monster, by class, and species! Killing a monster was like me killing a merman or human. Monsters were his own kind! "Tyson…"

He smiled sadly and nodded. "It was hard. But I had to do it."

"Why?"

He looked at me strangely. "You would have died. I end one life to keep another."

It was so simple. So straightforward. I could have laughed, if I wasn't so busy fighting a panic attack. People were always shouting about peace and no guns and no knives and no weapons and no murder and no war and no death penalty, but… But when push came to shove. When the _final_ second was there…when it was either violence or a loved one's death…

Most would choose violence.

It was in our nature to survive. No matter who we were, what race, what gender, or what species, we _wanted_ to survive. We _needed_ to survive.

But survival always came with a price.

I laughed quietly. It wasn't much of a laugh. "So that's the price for life?"

Tyson stared at me. "Price?"

I chuckled, teetering on the precipice. "Death, Tyson. The price for Life is Death."

I looked out at the dark water that had escaped the reach of the lights. "There is always a price for everything. Everything."

I stared at the darkness and then sighed.

" _When will I continue my training?"_

" _Tonight. I'm glad to have you back, Percy."_ Ouranos and Night spoke in unison.

I shivered. I had just given my soul away.

And I didn't have an ounce of regret.

 **Okay, so I don't really write replies to Guest** **reviews, but one of you asked a very good question that I had to answer.**

 **Guest Review #1:**

 **Yes, Percy has seen many, many demigods die by monsters, but he hasn't witnessed someone he loves _murder_ (killing without a trial) a mortal. It's very similar to demigod killing a mortal. He watched as a non-hero character was killed by his own brother. That's hard to accept. Demigods acknowledge that they might die. It's easier to understand their lot in life, but that merman didn't get up that morning thinking he might die. That's why Percy was stunned and shocked. I hope that this was helpful. Thank you for reviewing, Guest! = )**

 **Ink...**


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